LAS VEGAS — Tiremetrix L.L.C., developer of the Tire Registration Plus software platform, has struck integration deals this year with four of the industry's leading dealer software companies — ASA Automotive Systems Inc., Freedomsoft/Tire Shop, TCS Technologies Inc. and TireGuru Software — expanding the platform's reach considerably.
In each case, the integration is designed to help dealers using each supplier's point-of-sale software to send more accurate records to tire manufacturers with Department of Transportation (DOT) number validation, helping to eliminate the chance of servicing an aged or recalled tire.
Tiremetrix launched Tire Registration Plus originally in 2011 and has been improving it steadily since, according to Joe Donehue, owner and president of Brighton, Mich.-based Tiremetrix.
The Tire Registration Plus platform "is designed to help dealers overcome the challenges of complying with federal tire registration regulations, allowing them to focus on selling products and servicing cars," Mr. Donehue said.
Registration data are stored in a secure cloud platform so dealers can retrieve records and determine if customers are affected by a tire recall.
Sales software developer ASA Automotive added the Tire Registration Plus system to its TireMaster point-of-sale software under a partnership agreement.
"Using Tire Registration Plus, our dealers will be able to easily capture tire registration data car-side and at the point-of-sale," ASA Executive Vice President Dave Vogel said, "and automatically transmit the information to the tire manufacturer, making compliance quick, convenient and accurate."
The Tiremetrix data will be reflected immediately in inventory reports as well as in customer, vehicle and sales records within TireMaster, Mr. Vogel said.
The Tiremetrix platform simplifies identifying recalled tires during routine tire inspection, Mr. Donehue added, and the software's reporting functionality helps dealers identify exactly which customers are affected by a recall in a matter of seconds, eliminating the inconvenience of over-recalling non-affected customers.
ASA said it intends to offer this integration to existing TireMaster customers as an optional "add-on" feature.
Freedomsoft offers Tire Registration Plus in its Tire Shop software platform — designed to manage tire, automotive repair and quick lube shops — as an "affordable and easy way to electronically register tires," Freedomsoft General Manager Stephen Yelverton said.
"We've improved registration efficiency by integrating Tire Registration Plus directly into our Tire Shop software," he said. "Our dealers can complete the registration process at the point-of-sale and get real-time feedback to check for accuracy and safety issues before the tire leaves the shop."
TCS Technologies is offering Tire Registration Plus in its Tire Power and TireWorks HD software interfaces.
Mark Davis, director and general manager, software products for TCS Technologies' parent company, Milwaukee, Wis.-based ARI Network Services, said the partnership with Tiremetrix "brings even more value and potential profit to all of our customers."
In the event of a recall, dealers can identify affected customers, retrieve registration records and get vital information directly from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), TCS said.
Logan, Utah-based Tire Guru Software offers Tiremetrix's Tire Registration Plus and TPMS Manager platforms with its own Business Center products.
"Tire registration is an extremely important safety measure," Tire Guru President Clint Nicholls said, "and Tiremetrix has made the registration process more efficient and accurate through DOT number validation, tire recall and age checks and direct transmission to the responsible manufacturers."
Mandatory tire registration is part of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, passed by Congress in 2014 and signed into law by President Obama.
The legislation's primary reason was to authorize $305 billion worth of funding for surface transportation projects through 2019, but it also contains provisions covering multiple aspects of the nation's highway, bridge, mass transit, trucking and vehicle safety systems, including several directly affecting the tire industry, with tire registration provisions topping the list.